today. noda is to be japan's sixth krm in five years. convicted lockerbie lopper al megrahi is in a coma and apparently near death. krn can cnn found him at an expensive village. freed from a scottish prison in 2009 after doctors treated him for cancer said he was dying. libyan rebels are advancing and have 14,000 fighters set to liberate moammar gadhafi's hometown of sirte and have given loyalists there a monday deadline to disarm and surrender peaceful lp. the rebels gained control of the city. and 28 people killed when a suicide bomb went off at a sunni mosque in baghdad. a member of parliament was pun of the victims. other attacks elsewhere. those are the top stories from cnn, the world's news leader. i'm zain verjee and "world news today" starts right now. good morning from cnn london. i'm charles hodson. >> and good afternoon from cnn hong kong. welcome to "world business today." stop stories this monday august the 29th. now the citizen for japan's revolving door politics. the finance minister would be the latest to try to turn around the world's third biggest economy. hurricane irene has left new york, but come monday morning it will be anything but business as usual. and the u.s. front of reserve bust, but investors don't seem to mind. and still true to european stock markets as the start of monday's trade. some look at the numbers. it's a bit -- seeing myself, we do have a slightly shortened list here, which, of course, the london ftse is not open today, because of a public holiday. we're seeing big sales there on the dax by about 1% amid fears the latest bailout for the weaker euro zone nationless not -- nations will not go through and at a constitutional level seeing gains for the paris cac quite decently. and the zurich, if you like european markets with the exception of the dax. >> a swing on wall street on friday. initially the s&p down 2% and swung around to turn 1% higher on the bernanke comments. that was the impact here in asia. you can see most of the markets are higher. of course, a change in leadership in japan. the nikkei up by two-thirds. hong kong up by nearly 1.5. and up by more than 1.1%, the s&p. charles? the big news of the day, a new prime minister in japan. noda chosen to rule the party. and the ruling party, expected to be approved by the parliament on tuesday for the nation's top job. until now serving as japan's finance minister. noda succeeds anderson coopn na khah kan announces his resignation. >> reporter: because of nada's position on the yen. he has said there should be intervention and japan's government needs to do everything possible to try to control the yen dollar exchange, and that has been a huge problem for the exporters here in japan. noda is a known kwant quantity as how he feels about the weak dollar and trying to control the yen. certainly the markets like it. certainly corporate japan, who has been struggling especially the profit sheets, struggling under the surging yen certainly appreciate his entrance. the question will be, though, charles, whether or not noda can unite all of the factions, all the political factions and try to actually get policy pushed ahead. he's not known for being a particularly slashy fellow. self-add midedly quite dull media unsavvy and proven quite unpopular at least according to a weekend poll with the public only garnering 9% in a weekend newspaper poll. quite a job ahead him. he said short lfr amp winning the dpj leadership, japan is trying to push a bill snowball up a slippery hill. charles? >> of course, as finance minister, the biggest task he faces is that of the fiscal deficit and japan's debt which is double its gdp. i'm not surprised, actually, he's unpopular with people out there, because he plans to double sales tax, which is currently only 5%. double it by the mid-decade. no wonder he's unpopular. will he get that through? >> reporter: it's really hard to tell. remember, his predecessor suggested the same thing. many say that really did in the previous prime minister, kan. it's a little different now. massive disasters. there is a bit of a mind shift in what the country feels as far as having to pay for the restruction, and if you look at the economy at large, trying to fix the larger economy at large. on top of that, we also have the nuclear crisis, and then the lingering eschews of the larger economy. so all of this combined, yes. you can certainly understand why tax increases among the public is not proven to be quite popular, but given the mind-set shift, after the disasters, we have to see if these going to be able to push through that tax increase. >> okay. joining us live from tokyo with a take on the like ly yoes ll l noda as the next prime minister of japan. and noda is about to become japan's sixth prime minister in five years. he follows now naoto kan, the man who stepped down last week. his wife joked she only packed summer clothes after he became prime minister back in june of 2010. his predecessor was yukio hatoyama. served eight months. came to power in a landslide victory, the ldp, the ruling party pretty much through the second world war. mr. will hatoyama, the last of the ldp leaders. he was just a few days short of his first fourth year in office. then back to this man who held that position the year before that. before him, it was chinzo in office for just a year, september 2006 to september 2007. and before him, the position, the stability under this man. he swept to power and served a full five-year term before he stepped down. a very rare event in japanese politics. in fact, the longest standing prime minister in japan. you'd have to go back to 1987 to see that sort of thing. certainly he was, and still is, regarded as key figure in the japanese political scene. so the question is, what will investor think if yet another shift of power in japan? to help us answer that question how the installation of a new prime minister could affect the markets, managing director at jpmorgan joining us from our tokyo bureau. you may have heard our correspondent saying the big question is whether the new prime minister can actually unify the party. can he deal with the movement? because his party doesn't have power in the upper house and can he get things done? is he the man who can unify japan, japan politics? >> reporter: i think, you know, certainly noda is the trusted hand. he is reaching out to the opposition parties, and for all intents and purposes, we're off to a good start here. there is some stability. the question is, what do you want to do? just raising taxes for reconstruction is not going to be good enough. t opposition will oppose that. the key for the prime minister, what are the growth policies that will be promoted? >> have we seen any sort of preview of those policies? because i thought he was the finance minister. >> reporter: exactly right. i mean, right now he is very conservative. comes across as very conservative. really, first and foremost focused on fiscal consolidation. can you make the switch? can he surround himself with a new advisory team? he's going have to create a cabinet that actually unifies the democratic party. there certainly are good ideas for pro-growth initiatives, whether agriculture reform, whether it is the dpt, the freed trade agreement that america is trying to enact here in asia. all of these things are constructive ideas and for all intents and purpose, noda could be the man who unifies the party. >> so it sounds as if after all, now we have our sixth prime minister in five years in japan, you, at least, are holding out some hope we may be able to break this cycle of one-year prime ministerships in japan. how confident are you? >> reporter: well, look, i mean, you know, another year, another prime minister. you know, there's always hope, and as you know, i'm always optimistic on japan. but in all seriousness, i think people have realized that the corporate sector is acting decisively. already corporate japan has recovered in a v-shape fashion after the march disaster. the big gap is the public sector, is the political leadership. so there's a lot of pressure on the democratic party, on the politicians from corporate leaders to get their act together. noda is the trusted man. so why not give him the benefit of the doubt? >> we shall see. i guess we can only say yet to see. great to talk to you. jesperkoll, thanks for that. charles? something is always optimistic. still to come on "world business today," a major impact. we'll see how the america is faring now that irene has quit the country. were back. you're watching "world business today." hurricane irene downgraded as it moves into quebec, canada. no longer a tropical storm. it left a deep scar on the u.s. east coast. flooding and power outages widespread in states like vermont and new jersey being especially hard hit. newark and jfk international airports will be open for arrivals in a matter of hours and the federal administration says departures begin at noon. new york's laguardia airport will allow both takeoffs and landings as are 7:00 a.m. the storm is blamed for at least 21 deaths in the united states. 4 million people are now without power. emergency crews are cleaning up debris. the u.s. government estimates wind damage alone will amount to more than $1 billion. the people in new york city are drying out after irene's visit. long island just east of the city, the hardest hit part of new york state. and manhattan, got soaked. difficult in the coming days. we have the scene from battery park. >> reporter: there are 8 million people here in the city of new york. it swells to 14 million during the day when people come into work. most come in on mass transit. it's really the life blood of the city. the rail systems that bring you into the city and in the subways when you get here. the problem with the subways is, they aren't reopened yet and they are not going it reopen in time for the morning commute. mayor bloomberg here in new york city basically says what needs to happen first and what is happening right now is that they need to get out there and inspect every inch of the track and run test trains down the subway. that is not an option for tomorrow. and only up and running partially. that's not going to be such a good viable solution either. pretty much leaves you with driving or catching a cab. as far as driving into the city, that could be tough as well, because many of the roads are still flooded. in fact, where i'm standing now, battery park in manhattan, right up to where i was, up about 25, 30 feet away from the water, right up to where i was was covered in water this morning from the storm surge and flooding. that's what several streets in the area look like now. getting in on your own will be tough. catching a cab is going to be even harder. there are 30,000 cabs in new york city, and the millions who want them tomorrow. it's just not going to be enough. >> carter evans there reporting from battery park on sunday evening, u.s. time. so where is irene now? i believe canada. and at the world service center heading over the border now. >> yes. the leftovers of the storm, no longer a tropical storm. an advisory yesterday here. we're dealing with at this point is rain in quebec and some gusting winds as well in the wake of the storm. this was an incredible storm. shutting down new york. no rail, no subway. no planes. the airports closed. no broadway. folks across the world trying to get into new york have not been able to do so. but the storm at this point is gone. problem is, saturated ground where the rainfall fell and it was significant. 300 millimeter have fallen across the region. that create add flooding situation across the rivers, the creeks, the streams, the brooks. you name it here, we've been showing you pictures of what you see here in magenta and red, those are the moderate to major stages across the river gamps we've been able to look at here. this will, in fact, be remembered as a very rainy storm that has flooded many folks, another billion dollar disaster here for the united states. briefly want to talk about nanmadol, the one impacted taiwan. a live report with damage as a result of wind and rain there. the system weakening heading into china. this, charles, the one we'll be watching over the next several days. this bears close watching. talas, a tropical storm now, but it will eventually be a typhoon, and it will eventually head up to the north, and i think perhaps it will begin to threaten our friends in the tokyos. we'll watch that closely. first, heading off to the west at this point not a wind storm. mainly rain. it dropped a lot of it, 200 to 300 millimeters in taiwan and it's still raining there. getting in on good rain, back to 00 mill 200 millimeter and all eyes on talas headed up to the north and impacting perhaps the mainland japan getting into the next five days. again look at it strengthening as it does, perhaps making landfall in five days as a category 2 storm. that would be a disaster, another one for japan. we're hoping for a turn here. we'll keep you posted in the next several days. guys? >> okay, yes. sounds like it could be a wet weekend. the first weekend of in noda's prime ministerstership could be a wet one. thank you very much. >> need all the time he can get to sort out the problems in japan. another thing we've been talking about, the effect on the markets. when we come back, exactly what came out of this in jackson hol, wyoming. stay with pus us.e st in hee and the pollen outside. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. it's the brand allergists recommend most. ♪ lily and i are back on the road again. where we belong. with zyrtec®, i can love the air®. were back, you're watching "world news today" live at cnn. the world economists got together in jackson hole, wyoming friday for the annual meeting of central bankers. the idea is the state of the economy should dominate much of the conversation. perhaps as expected, ben bernanke's comments to be absolutely precise, the lack of detail in them. the fed chairman said the u.s. economy is growing slower than desired and high unemployment remain as problem. so far so good. only could be worth saying, keeping their job, if he didn't think that. the point is he stopped short of laying out any immediate plans to encourage growth. and notice the absence, any mention of more easing in qe3. bernanke said instead that the september meeting will be extended to two days to discuss it further. meanwhile, the comments more foreboding, if you like. saying global economic recovery risks being derailed in european banks, if they don't shore themselves up with more capital, default and easing investages. also saying the united states needs to sort out its declining profiting market to boost consumer spending and fuel growth. >> yes. strong comments, but the markets focusing much more on ben bernanke. that news particularly resonating with investors. many say economic fears led to the stock market slump on friday and asia getting into the act seeing most of the markets higher. the chief asian emerging market equity strategist at jpmorgan joins live in the studio. nice to see you. >> good morning. >> ben bernanke says that the economy is still weak but no need yet for any further easing. the markets seem to like it. do you think that we can in any way see the line? you've seen lows in the market? >> i don't think so. we will see lower lows in those markets. >> why. >> we continue to get very weak economic data coming out. i think what ben bernanke was really saying is we've run out of policy options here. mo monetary policy proving to be infectual. qe2, inflation. we should be using words like stagnation. 1% growth, that's stagflation. >> your bearing this and not seeing the feds or policymakers in washington taking the lead on this? >> they can't really, because we've got a fiscal problem, which means that they need to put a fiscal drag on the economy. tax more, spend less. zero interest rates when they tried qe2, inflation relatively low. we now have inflation. if they try qe3, stock modesy inflationened further choke. what bernanke did say, the market taking on too much, in our view, they're promising a two-day meeting of the fed in september. perhaps something comes out that. so it is clever, the psychology of this, that he's promising the markets something and delivering something. >> okay. we noticed today that shanghai was down. >> yes. >> and there was a significant move on friday by beijing tightening inflation, measures against inflation once again. what's going on in china? we think we're being told monthly inflation, the outlook is starting to look better. >> yes. so, the problem in china, the economy is growing far too fast for its ability to deliver non-inflationary growth. you need to understand in china that the demographics change very quickly over the next couple of years. if you look at the demographic, which is 15 to 39-year-olds without a university degree, it's declining at 4% per annum. it was growing three years ago. >> no blue collar workers? >> basically the story. slower construction growth. slower manufacturing growth in order to bring back the sort of growthy price stability. >> and the other side of that is more moves by beijing, which will slow down overall economic growth? >> absolutely. we had a tightening measure put in place, equivalent to increasing reserve ratio by three times. now, this is very important. it's taken 1.2 trillion out of the economy between now and the end of november. now, they put it through on friday evening when the focus on jackson hole, focus on the preparation for hurricane irene, i think the market is underappreciating. >> we still have this to play out in the markets? >> absolutely. >> and greeth, 8% by growth in china. >> we're going to see growth being below the expectations in the market. we had 7% growth, if you're looking at the quarter numbers, in the second quarter, with pmi below 50, the tight monetary conditions, seems reasonable to expect the economy to slow down. that's a good thing. the markets worry about inflation. slower, slow the economy down, markets rally from there. >> we shall see. great to speak with you. chief equity strategist with jpmorgan here in hong kong. charles? in beijing, tensions are rising between rich and poor and it's starting to have an impact on the city's landscape. we'll look at how migrant workers say they're slow he getting pushed out of town. that's next. cnn london, i'm charles hodson. >> and i'm andrew stevens at cnn hong kong. welcome back. you're watching "world business today." let's return to european stock markets where all of the major indices apart from london are open for trade. obviously with the ftse, the largest index not open. a little thinner. how they stand right now with gains for all of these markets, the dax up by more than 1% as is it's cac. quite strong gains for the siouxic smi with big banks like british suite much to the fore. the whole of the european indices playing catch-up with the rally we saw on friday on wall street. andrew? >> yes, absolutely. similar story here. wall street keepings in asia in the start of the trading week, charles. investors digesting the news out of japan the new prime minister is indeed the former finance minister. so expecting at least mr. noda will bring some relative stability to economic policy. the market up by two-thirds of 1%. hong kong also up. look at shanghai. this is a story. talking about beijing moving aggressively on new anti-inflationary measures on friday. sort of snuck in when most investors were focusing on ben bernanke and what was going on with hur aricane irene. the moves by byren bernanke hast made it into the market yesterday. >> and regardless of difficulties getting to work, trading on wall street will open. spamped t spared the worst of hurricane irene. the u.s. futures, what investors have to look forward to this week. up for the year. dow in the middle and that's for the s&p 500 and the nasdaq composite. i must say, the last guess, maybe the markets haven't fully price in the impact of hurricane irene. let's have a look at what investors have to look forward to this week. >> reporter: wall street this week gets a good look at the state of the u.s. labor market. i'm alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. traders will be hoping that july's positive momentum carries forward. employers added 117,000 jobs last month and unemployment improved to 1.9%. adp, layoff announcements and the weekly report on jobless exclaims. spending numbers out monday. june's figures came as a big disappointment to wall street. consumers saving more money than they spent. troubling. because americans need to pump that money into the economy to strengthen the recovery. this week will bring a number of readings on the health of the housing markets as well as reports on consumer confidence, construction spending and auto sales. on the earnings front, we'll hear from bookseller barnes & noble, retailer dollar general and campbell soup. at the new york stock market, i'm alison kosik. turning now to china, tensions are growing between the wealthy and working class. power making the country's growth. >> now they're slowly getting pushed out of town. as beijing begins tearing down part of their neighborhoods. schools are some of the first to go. >> reporter: at this kindergarten in beijing, no children have played. only an eerie silence. days before classes here are supposed to begin, workmen are emptying out the school preparing for it to be torn down, like others in this poor neighborhood. this rubble heap used to be a school. it's weren't of several around the city that have been demolished by authorities. the beijing government has decided to shut down and flatten a number of schools in parts of the capital where migrant workers live. official notices declare the schools are unsafe, but many people here, like this driver, feel the decision is an attack on the city's struggling worker class. i don't feel i belong to this city at all, he says. you just don't like migrant workers survive. tensions have been rising between china's rich and poor with many migrants resentful they don't reap more of the nation's economic rewards. some beijing citizens discriminate against us, but if all the migrants went back to their hometowns, life in the city would not go on properly, she says. the economy wouldn't develop this well if we weren't here. the outlying districts where the migrant schools are being destroyed have been earmarked for the construction of new developments. education officials say all migrant students will be admitted to other schools, but many parents fear their children won't find a spot on such short notice. potentially leaving thousands with no place to study. some migrant families are moving back to the countryside. this man says his children have been transferred to a school far from here. he's moving there, because he says there's no way they can commute. we came to beijing to contribute to the city, he says. now the government just tears down everything and leaves us. workers credited for driving the nation forward now being driven away. for cnn, beijing. part of the reason the migrant workers may feel discriminated against is because of china's hucou system. like a naermt identide permit t where you belong. most allocated in the capital, workers living in the major cities are considered temporary residence and can't get one. those in a small town can get one if by joining civil service or through high military rank. those without a hukou do not receive the same entitlements as those receiving public housing and medical insurance. it's noted as many as one-third of residents do not have a beijing hukou. and ending a 12-day hunger strike following parliaments exception of anti-corruption resignation. three main demands include appoint anti-corruption obmudsmen in states, and submit lower levels of government to more scrutiny and create citizens charter to oversee ministries. coming up, our eye on mongolia. how the country's natural resources are shaping its future. welcome back. you're watching "world business today." >> in our "eye on the series" with uk take you to a new country every month for a different perspective. this month we've got our eye on mongolia. let's give you the main bullet points on mongolia and its history so you have context for our reporting. the country is as you probably know located in central asia between china and russia. you might not know the rest of this. it gained its independence from china in 1921. more than 2.7 million people call mongolia home. nearly half of the population live in urban areas, including the capital. about half of mongolians are buddhists and christians and muslims make up mother 10 perce10 -- another 10%. agriculture is key in mongolia. mining is getting much attention particularly from the international national community. mongolia is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of international resources. the known deposits of minerals and precious metals alone said to be worth hundreds of billions of dollars. 80% of the country is unsurveyed and mines are playing a role in changing the face of this nation. >> three, two, one -- >> reporter: mongolia's desert is stirring. preparing to give up untold riches to a country still mired in poverty. it's inspiring a whole new language. mongolia, a mining mania. >> when you talk about mania, actually, it's excitement. >> reporter: out of the flat desert surroundings, a new city is emerging. this means turquoise hill. the biggest business venture the country has seen. and this is the man who helped start it all. he is a mongolian geologist with a small team he found this deposit in 2001, right here on this hill. >> geologists, it's kind of like a dream comes to reality. >> a dream come true. >> yeah. >> reporter: but the local people knew the venue of what was here all along. this isn't the first mining in this area. in fact, it dates back hi tos of years. the locals new about the copper here, call it turquoise because of the color you see running through the rock and here is an old stone tool used to get it out and then melted down and used in figures like arrowheads. from ancient beginnings to a global mining giant. >> we're going to -- important. we are really back to work with international -- >> reporter: it's a joint venture between rival giants right now under construction. will begin cooperation in 2013. by 2020 this copper and gold mine is forecast to account for one-third of mongolia's gdp. the numbers here are all huge. the development phase runs to nearly $5 billion. it's projected to produce 450,000 tons of copper and more than 300,000 ounces of gold. there's enough here to mine for the next 50 years at least. the miners say it will boost the average earnings of mongolians by 60%, or $1,000 a year. that's a lot for a country where a third of the people live below the poverty line. >> obviously, employment opportunities for a lot of people to get involved in mining, but that's hnot going t be the whole of the population. the revenues that will come to the government will obviously be deployed in infrastructure projects, into hospitals, into education. so they'll be a lot of direct benefits for all mongolians to come out of the money. >> reporter: this man like others are already benefiting. he has a wife and children to support, and the extra money from part-time work at the mine comes in handy. he is offering more jobs to herders, he says. we think we can work in the mines and take care of our herds. my three children will get a chance to go to school and have a better education. >> okay. do you know each other? >> reporter: other locals are learning english. everywhere there is construction. small villages like this one, with 1,000 people are preparing for a population explosion. but there's a flip side. an ancient nomadic way of life governed by the seasons is under threat. locals are worried the mine will draen all the water. mine owners say it has a separate underground source. then the stress level on animal herds and available land. at the moment it's impossible to graze our herd near the mine, he says. officials might say we'd only be affected up to 10 kilometers. because of the traffic and dust, you don't see any herds with 20 or 30 kilometers. a country blessed with great wealth is being thrust into the 21st century as the land itself is being disturbed, change is coming to the people of the land. stan grant, cnn, mongolia. >> hmm. you're watching "world business today." coming up, the final chapter. how a little book store made famous in the film "notting hill" made bust. we'll take you there next. imagine... one scooter or power chair that could improve your mobility and your life. one medicare benefit that, with private insurance, may entitle you to pay little to nothing to own it. one company that can make it all happen ... your power chair will be paid in full. the scooter store. hi i'm doug harrison. we're experts at getting you the power chair or scooter you need. i didn't pay a penny out of pocket for my power chair. with help from the scooter store, medicare and my insurance covered it all. call the scooter store for free information today. in hong kong, on pretty dull, gray day. welcome back. you're watching "world business today." setting for a budding romance between julia roberts and hugh grant in the 1999 hollywood hit "following hikno"e book shop not far from here will close its doors to customers and tourists after 3 ye2 years of business. unpaid debt and failed to find a buyer. the closure caused a surge in recent weeks. cnn went along for one last look. >> reporter: it was the scene of a courtship that captured the hearts of millions around the world. "notting hill" the backdrop for the mow mantic comly a beduddaled book store owner falls in love with a glamorous film star played by julia roberts. where the romance was sparked, ever since the movie came out this has become a major magnet for tourists, but now it's shutting down. it's a london institution founded in 1979. this august, two lines on a social networking site spelled its end. the shop incurred thousands of dollars in losses is being handed ober to liquidators on september 8th. that prompted visitors from around the world in its final days. >> this was the sad news. >> it will close for whatever. oh, my god. it's sad. >> reporter: now a group of writers launched a last-ditch appeal to save the book shop. volunteering their time to work in the store and find a buyer. >> we're going it fight to keep the book shop open. what we hope to achieve is preserve the travel book shop and all the spirit of the travel book shop in this location. probably in the same building, possibly on the same street. >> reporter: the save the travel book shop campaign is gaining momentum, but "notting hill" screenwriter and actor alec baldwin lend sag port. the campaign has created an international buzz and potential buyers may now be stepping forward. >> we're going to start talking to some potential investors about future plans to save the book shop. >> any books by dickens? >> no. no. i'm afraid we're a travel book shop. >> the travel book shop was rebuilt for "notting hill." perhaps if a buyer stepped forward, it, too, will be revived. for cnn, in london. well, let's have another check of the european stock markets. 50% off but quite a loss since the market highs earlier this year, and we are looking at gains, though, catching up with wall street which rallied on friday following comments interpreted as mildly encouraging by the markets and we're looking at a gain of about 1.1/3% and 1 2/3 with the cac and no trading in london because it's in holiday. >> and the picture, shanghai. 1.3% after new moves on friday, after the market closed, to try to rein in inflationary pressures in china. that sent the shanghai down. as you say, all closing high. the nikkei up two-thirds percent. on the back, news the finance minister is to become the sixth prime minister in the past five years. that's it for this edition of "world business today"'s thanks for joining us. i'm andrew stevens in hong kong. >> i'm charles hodson in london. you're watching cnn. the world's news leader. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com